HJ: Having extensively practiced yoga for upwards of 7 years at this point in my life, I can attest to the incredible health benefits it can confer when practiced safely and within ones own bodily limits. Yoga works at all three levels of ones being – at the mental, physical and spiritual levels. It brings three aspects of oneself into greater harmony and alignment, both purifying and cleansing them of old accumulated waste and thoughts.

Furthermore, at the physical level, yoga has an extensive list of benefits, many of which are outlined in the article below and are far too numerous to be listed here. Yoga can be used in place of physical therapy, often with more spectacular and rapid results as it integrates the mind and spirit into the equation, which results in a deeper, more profound level of healing.

However, it should be noted that the vast majority of the yoga being taught in yoga studios and schools in the west, is actually only a very ‘shallow’ form of variations on Hatha Yoga, which is only one small branch out of many different types of ‘Yoga’s’. This does not mean that it is not a powerful method of self transformation, it just is more based on physicality and less on the integration of meditation. In the West, Yoga is primarily taught in a way that has quite a bit of overlap with Pilates and other aerobics classes. The real power of Yoga lies in the more Esoteric, ancient forms that have been kept closely guarded secrets up until only the last few decades.

These advanced, extremely powerful forms of yoga are known as ‘Kriya Yoga’. Kriya yoga is a blanket term and there many different styles of Kriya yoga that fall under this moniker. These practices are usually less focused on physical postures, but are rather a complex combination of breath, focus, meditation, mantra and a minor physical pose. The combination of these elements is extremely powerful and must be used with great respect and caution, for it is possible to develop higher faculties faster than one is ready to receive them on a spiritual level. These advanced practices require great discipline and are genrally not taught widely in mainstream classes in the West, although they can be found from time to time. The fact is, most that attend Yoga classes in the West are not necessarily ready for this level of transformation and approach Yoga as more of a ‘workout’ that also happens to have other spiritual benefits that many forms of exercise do not.

Modern science now confirms why humans have been practicing yoga since the beginning of recorded history: it is good both for the body and mind.

There is evidence in the archeological record that yoga has been practiced by humans for at least 5,000 years. Whereas this would constitute sufficient evidence for most folks to consider it a practice with real health benefits, as its millions of practitioners widely claim, skeptics say otherwise. They require any activity deemed to be of therapeutic value run the gauntlet of randomized, controlled clinical trials before it is fully accepted within the conventional medical system.

This tendency towards scientism in medicine, or what some call medical monotheism, runs diametrically opposed to the standards of lived-experience – so called “subjectivity” – or anecdotal experience (learning from the experience of others) which is what the majority of the world uses to determine if something has value, or is worth doing or not.

Yoga, of course, is no longer exclusively practiced by a particular religious group. It is considered a form of low-impact exercise and stress-reduction, and is estimated to be practiced by 20 million people in the US alone. This burgeoning interest among Westerners happens to be why so much human clinical research has now been performed on yoga. The US National Library of Medicine’s bibliographic database shows that in 1968, seven studies were published on yoga. This year, there have been over 250. So much research, in fact, has accumulated that even systematic reviews of the literature have now been published.

Take a recently published systematic review in the Clinical Journal of Pain where an evaluation of ten randomized controlled trials found patients with chronic low back pain found “short-term effectiveness and moderate evidence for long-term effectiveness of yoga for chronic low back pain.”[i]

The meta-analysis sits comfortably on the top of the pyramid of truth of “evidence-based” medicine. Once confirmation has occurred at these heights, few can accuse such an intervention of “quackery” without indicting the very holy grail of modern medicine itself.

So, what other human clinical research now confirms the value of yoga in the prevention and treatment of disease? We have found evidence supporting the use of yoga in as many as 70 distinct disease categories, all of which can be viewed on our Yoga Health Benefits page, and with 7 listed below:

Asthma: There are now four clinical studies indicating that yoga practice improves the condition of those with bronchial asthma.[viii] [ix] [x] [xi]

Elevated Cortisol (Stress): Yoga practice has been found to decrease serum cortisollevels which have been correlated with alpha wave activation.[xii] Yoga also compares favorably in this respect to African dance, the latter of which raises cortisol.[xiii] Women suffering from mental stress, including breast cancer outpatients undergoing adjuvant radiotherapy, have been found to respond to yoga intervention with lowered cortisol levels, as well as associated mental stress and anxiety reduction.[xiv] [xv]

Fibromyalgia: There are three studies indicating that yoga improves the condition of patients suffering from fibromyalgia.[xvi] [xvii] [xviii]

High Blood Pressure: Yoga has been found to reduce blood pressure in patients with prehypertension to stage 1 hypertension.[xix] Yoga has also been found to reduce blood pressure in more severe conditions, such as HIV-infected adults with cardiovascular disease.[xx] Yogic breathing is one of the most effective forms of yoga for this health condition, with both fast and slow-breathing exercises having value.[xxi]

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Yoga has been found to be efficacious in improving obsessive-compulsive behavior.[xxii] [xxiii]

The examples above, of course, concern very specific health benefits. The experienced health benefits of yoga, on the other hand, are far more numerous and all-encompassing than the reductionist medical model seeking to grant it official recognition and credibility will ever be able to fully grasp.

Nonetheless, it is clear that yoga has come of age. Ancient wisdom is finding renewed confirmation by men and women in lab coats, who themselves could stand to loosen up and throw down a sun salutation or two. Considering the aforementioned “scientific research” available today, they might now be more inclined to do so.

About the Author

Sayer Ji is the founder and director of GreenMedInfo.com and co-author of the book The Cancer Killers: The Cause Is The Cure. His writings and research have been published in the Wellbeing Journal, the Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, and have been featured on Mercola.com, NaturalNews.com, Reuters.com, GaryNull.com, and Care2.com. Check out his newest project with co-author Tania Melkonian:EATomology: An Edible Philosophy of Food

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